1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to packaged ice substitutes used for cooling liquids in containers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently sport bottles have become very popular. Sport bottles are those containers which generally have a screw-on lid, are relatively tall and easy to hold and have a straw protruding through the top which is received in the body of the container to allow removal of liquid. They have become quite popular given the increased exercise activity of individuals. They are quite convenient because they do not leak and can be readily carried or placed without fear of spilling or loosing fluid. Further, they have been quite popular as a method of advertising products. To use the sport bottle, one simply places the desired liquid, such as water, fruit juice, soft drink or exercise drink, in the sport bottle, closes the lid and inserts the straw, if it has been removed from the lid. Thereafter, whenever it is desired to receive some liquid, merely opening a cap on the straw allows access to the liquid through the straw.
However, there are certain problems that have developed in the use of sport bottles. As noted above, the sport bottles are typically being utilized in an outdoor environment which makes it very difficult to keep the contents cool. In most cases the bottle will just sit out in the sun or the hot air and rapidly lose any of the chill of the liquid, with the result that you then have a warm liquid. This is highly undesirable as cool liquids are significantly more refreshing. Attempts have been made to provide additional layers of insulation, typically an expanded foam, over the sport bottle to provide insulation to reduce the heating effects. However, this is only partially successful.
It is possible to utilize ice in the sport bottle, but this has several additional problems. First, ice floats, so that with the straw intake being at the bottom of the bottle and the ice being at the top, the liquid is not particularly chilled. Further, if the liquid is anything other than water it is diluted by the ice. This creates a dilution effect which is also not necessarily desirable. Further, in many cases because of the shape of the available ice cubes it is not possible to place the ice in the sport bottle and yet have the straw properly centered. Therefore, there is a major problem in keeping the contents of the sport bottle cool using the known techniques.